If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

General Q's, mostly fire walls....

Was wondering about zone and tiny. How safe are you with them. I figure they keep things as far as trojans from getting out, also the script kiddies from getting in. As far as actual good hackers though. How safe am I? Are they super easy to bypass for basically anyone that knows what he/she is doing.

Also, are there ways to hide connections from netstat in dos. Basically, if I think someone is in my system, but has bypassed zone alarm. When I do a netstat, will that show that they are connected, or can they hide that as well??

I have had great luk with Zonealarm. Have had one breach. Blocks anything that goes to or comes from your computer unless you give it permission. Haven't had a chance to try TPF yet but I have heard that it is good.
ZA makes your computer ports invisible so it will be almost impossible to find any access points.
if you want to test out the firewall you choose go to HackerWhacker,GRC and try there firewall tests.
Hope thats hat you were looking for.

[gloworange]\"A hacker is someone who has a passion for technology, someone who is possessed by a desire to figure out how things work.\" [/gloworange]

I feel as though Zone is a pretty good firewall, if its a question of integrity. I often try to advise people to roll their own level of security though. I know there are a few sites out there that will test your over-all protection level like this site www.grc.com. As for good hackers..in all honesty it comes down to the simple "if there is a will, there is a way" idea. Peace.

Thanks for the info, I was aware of the testing sites, and currently use zone alarm. I have tried Tiny but didnt really care for it. I was mostly wondering about how easy they are to bypass, I have seen multiple references on these boards about how they will not protect you if a real hacker wants in. Thats what I was wondering is if I should worrie and its super easy to bypass. Not too worried, I try not to piss too many people off online hehe. Also was wondering about the dos netstat command and if you could hide from it.

If you are an old-timer I am sure you well know my opinion on software firewalls and IDS.

Basically....They are worthless, nothing more than a false sense of security.

A firewall to be truly effective needs to be a seperate entity. no exceptions. Similar to a moat around a castle. A firewall is meant to allow ONLY the good traffic to pass to the server.

If you are using a software firewall then the attacks/attackers are already at the door. Not to mention the fact that the IDS/firewall could be used to punish the machine it was meant to protect. If you do not have the resources to buy a good hardware firewall appliance, then look in the paper, and find someone selling any older PC for around $75-100. Add another NIC to it and install BSD or Linux. Each distro has the ability to be *just* a firewall. At install time it is one of the options.

ThePreacher: The trojan thing was weak, all it is, is a program that trys to contact grc. Its meant to be simple though. If your firewall doesnt catch that though, then u got probs hehe. It does its job though. Just dont expect alot of bells and whistle's.

NoNeckJoe: Hrm, yeah would be nice, but gotta get the funds for that. Was wondering, I have a 10/100 3com hub. Do you know of anyway that I can set that up to have the cable modem plugged into the hub, and have 2 computers also plugged into hub and able to access the internet. I do not have a router or anything, so its pretty much hub only. On firewalls and such right now making sure im patched up and running ZA is about all I can do.

Also what do you think about the routers they have out now, like linksys that come with DHCP nat and firewalls? Gud/suck/noway?

Conf1rm3d_K1ll: Troo, better have something then nothing. I used tiny for a bit, but its too quiet, zone warns me whenever something trys to get to the net, also gives me hit counts and such. Who is trying to get in where. Again, I used tiny for a bit, but do not know it that well. I also like zones options of letting stuff access the net only when I want it too. Say like winamp, it allways ask to get to the net, if im running shoutcast then I allow it, if not then I dont allow it. With tiny it seems like I couldnt just click allow for this time. I had to click allow like 5 times, and then again some later. Or if I set to allow then it would allways allow it. Call me fickle hehe.

Originally posted by S1lv3r whoooo, good info, thanks! Ok, more Q's....

Conf1rm3d_K1ll: Troo, better have something then nothing. I used tiny for a bit, but its too quiet, zone warns me whenever something trys to get to the net, also gives me hit counts and such. Who is trying to get in where. then I dont allow it. With tiny it seems like I couldnt just click allow for this time. I had to click allow like 5 times, and then again some later. Or if I set to allow then it would allways allow it. Call me fickle hehe.

Thanks again for the info guys

LOL...Of course you had to click around 5 times! You should have checked the little box that says "Create appropriate filter rule?"